The French past perfect, or pluperfect, (plus-que-parfait) is used to indicate an action in the past that occurred before another action in the past. The latter can be either mentioned in the same sentence or implied.

There are other forms of the past in French. Let me introduce you to a visual mnemonic for past perfect/pluperfect:

Pluperfect/Past Perfect (plus-que-parfait) – Ava had flown Avions to the EU, and the ETA was pluperfect, EZ and convenient.

The pluperfect is the tense which gave me the most trouble when conjugating. It doesn’t help that it is also known as the Past Perfect (which means it contains the past participle element, which means there are two auxiliary verb conjugations to worry about). There are two words which anchor the mnemonic, Avions and Pluperfect. Either one, for me, triggers the entire mnemonic, which in turn solves the riddle of the conjugation, and the English equivalents.

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In the Passé Composé (Present Perfect in English) form, many verbs conjugate with être, and must match in gender and number of persons. Passé Composé is the most common French past tense, and expresses an action completed in the past, repeated a number of times in the past, or a series of actions completed in the past. The equivalent of Passé Composé in English, is the simple past (I danced), present perfect (I have danced) and past emphatic (I did dance).

The Passé Composé uses “avoir” for every verb except 17 verbs that use “être”. There is a memory tool…DR MRS VANDERTRAMPP (Devenir Revenir Monter Rester Sortir Venir Aller Naître Descendre Entrer Retourner Tomber Rentrer Arriver Mourir Partir), and it’s easier to memorize these verbs than to make sense of anything else. Many teachers rely on this picture:

Many idioms use avoir, and the meaning differs from “to have” and can often be confused with “to be”. The “Il y a” expressions are often confusing for this reason. “Il y a” means “there is” or “there are” although “a” is the conjugated “to have”.

In the Passé Composé, Être and Avoir are used with the imperfect form of other verbs, to create compound tenses that describe past actions which have completed.

This visual not only tells you the English equivalent, but reminds you that an accent mark at the end of the past particle tells you that it is one of the perfect tenses. You will see this tense so often, that you will probably have no problem with the je, tu, il, and vous conjugations, but you may be tricked by the nous and ils conjugations. The mnemonic addresses that with Avon and son, color linking mnemonic words to the conjugations.

We’ve now coverered Past Perfect (Pluperfect), and Passé Composé. There is also Past Imperfect.

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Normally the Past Imperfect describes actions that are on-going. A good example of this is the Past Imperfect, “je mangeais”, which means I was eating (on going action). The Passé Composé version, “j’ai mangé”, translates to the English equivalent Present Perfect of “I have eaten”, and the action is completed. That’s the simplest way to differentiate between Passé Composé and Past Imperfect.

Here is a visual mnemoic for the Past Imperfect (imparfait):

Imperfect (imparfait) – She was eating a parfait, it is imperfect, how I-ronic.

For an American, a parfait is something they sell at McDonald’s, and it contains yogurt or ice cream, and is adorned with nuts, syrup, etc. What could be more perfect? The irony is that as “she” was eating one, it is imperfect, and therefore ironic. The mnemonic attempts to reveal the conjugation trickery of the Imperfect tense. Through the use of colors, the strange “a” that appears in je, tu, il and ils is shown. The “is” and “it” are revealed in the je, tu, and il conjugations, and finally, the word I-ronic reminds the conjugator, to make sure they slip an “i” into each conjugation.

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The final past tense in French is one that is used mainly in literature, and it is Passé Simple.

Passé Simple is a third tense used to describe past actions, and is described as being the literary equivalent of Passé Composé, because it is used in formal writing and formal speech. Passé Simple will often look strange, and the verbs are conjugated dependant on the verb’s endings (ER, IR/RE, and irregular).

This was the most difficult mnemonic to create, and also the most intricate one. This mnemonic is not as intuitive as the others, and may require you to use it several times before it’s automatic. The mnemonic does contain all of the conjugations for -er verbs, as seen by the colors. The ending triggers the peculiar -ir and -re verb conjugations for je, tu, and Il/elle/on. Notice the accent above the “Nous” and “Vous” conjugations? I have no idea how to trigger that in this mnemonic, so you simply have to note that the accent makes the Past Simple not that simple.

Study Tip – When using verb conjugations, you may find that talking with your hands, like Italians, is a good way to add the memory power of motion. When you talk about the future, and conjugate the future, push your hands forward in whichever gesture you feel comfortable with. The present will have it’s own gesture. The past imperfect will have one that is slightly different than the past perfect, and so on. Work on those gestures and agree on them now, so that as you introduce new verb conjugations, you will couple them with body movements that will become synonymous with that conjugation.

The Imperfect (Imparfait) is what was happening all around you (including you), and the background. Also on-going events, habits, and what used to be. I’m going to give you a visual mnemonic to help you remember this verb tense and how to conjugate it…forever:

Imperfect (imparfait) – She was eating a parfait, it is imperfect, how I-ronic.

For an American, a parfait is something they sell at McDonald’s, and it contains yogurt or ice cream, and is adorned with nuts, syrup, etc. What could be more perfect? The irony is that as “she” was eating one, it is imperfect, and therefore ironic. The mnemonic attempts to reveal the conjugation trickery of the Imperfect tense. Through the use of colors, the strange “a” that appears in je, tu, il and ils is shown. The “is” and “it” are revealed in the je, tu, and il conjugations, and finally, the word I-ronic reminds the conjugator, to make sure they slip an “i” into each conjugation.

J’avais peur des chiens. – I was afraid of dogs.J’aimais les épinards. – I used to like spinach.

Past Imperfect

Verb

Meaning

Je

Tu

Il/elle

Nous

Vous

Ils/ells

Aimer

To like

J’aimais

Aimais

Aimions

Aimiez

Aimiez

Aimaient

Aller

To go

J’allais

Allais

Allait

Allions

Allies

Allaient

Avoir

To have

J’avais

Avais

Avait

Avions

Aviez

Avaient

Connaitre

To know

Connaissais

Connaissais

Connaissait

Connaissions

Connaissiez

Connaissaient

Croire

To believe

Croyais

Croyais

Croyait

Croyions

Croyiez

Croyaient

Dire

To say

Disais

Disais

Disait

Disions

Disiez

Disaient

Étre

To be

J’Étais

Étais

Étair

Étions

Étiez

Étaient

Faire

To do/make

Faisais

Faisais

Faisait

Faisions

Faisiez

Faisaient

Parler

To speak

Parlais

Parlais

Parlait

Parlions

Parliez

Parlaient

Partir

To go

Partais

Partais

Partait

Partions

Partiez

Partaient

Penser

To think

Pensais

Pensais

Pensait

Pensions

Pensiez

Pensaient

Regarder

To look at

Regardais

Regardais

Regardait

Regardions

Regardiez

Regardaient

Sentir

To smell

Sentais

Sentais

Sentait

Sentions

Sentiez

Sentaient

Trouver

To find

Trouvais

Trouvais

Trouvait

Trouvions

Trouviez

Trouvaient

Venir

To come

Venais

Venais

Venait

Venions

Veniez

Venaient

Voir

To see

Voyais

Voyais

Voyait

Voyions

Voyiez

Voyaient

Vouloir

To want

Voulais

Voulais

Voulait

Voulions

Vouliez

Voulaient

Normally the Past Imperfect descirbes actions that are on-going. A good example of this is the Past Imperfect, je mangeais, which means I was eating (on going action). The Passé Composé version, j’ai mangé, translates to the English equivalent Present Perfect of “I have eaten” and the action is completed.

Sentences

Avant, vous veniez chez mes parents – Earlier, you came to my parents’
Comment était ta journée? How was your day?
Du moins, il croyait! At least, he believed!
Elle allait lire un magazine – She went to read a magazine
Elle ne me regardait pas – She was not looking at me
Elle savait lire – She knew how to read
Elle venait seule – She came alone
Elles ne voulaient plus écrire – They did not want to write any more
Hier j’étais malade – Yesterday I was sick
Il allait acheter une voiture – He was going to buy a car
Il allait parler – He was going to talk
Il croyait son père – He believed his father
Il disait quoi? What was he saying?
Il était à sa fenêtre hier – He was at her window yesterday
Il faisait beau – The weather was beautiful
Il n’allait pas le faire – He was not going to do it
Il ne faisait rien – He did not do anything
Il ne voulait pas manger – He did not want to eat
Il n’était pas chez lui It didn’t used to be in home/He was not in his house
Il pensait à moi – He thought about me
Il savait parler – He knew how to speak
Il se sentait bien – He felt fine
Il se sentait mal- He felt bad
Il sentait le chocolat – He smelled the chocolate
Il y avait un chat dans la voiture – There was a cat in the car
Ils allaient au café – They were going to the café
Ils avaient une lampe dans leurchambre – They had a lamp in their bedroom
Ils n’avaient rien à manger – They had nothing to eat
Ils ne voulaient jamais ma photo – They never wanted my picture
Ils ne voulaient pas ça – They did not want that/it
Ils/Elles ne voulaient plus écrire – They did not want to write any more
J’allais dans ce restaurant – I used to go to this restaurant
J’allais écrire une letter – I was going to write a letter
J’avais un petit robot quand j’étais petit – I had a little robot when I was young
J’avais une voiture – I had a car
Je crois ce qu’elles disaient – I believe what they said
Je n’ai pas voulu le faire / Je ne voulais pas le faire – I did not want to do it
Je n’avais pas le temps de prendre un petit-déjeuner – I had no time for breakfast
Je ne savais pas – I did not know
Je ne voulais pas l’acheter – I did not want to buy it
Je parlais à mon père – I was talking to my father
Je parlais de ça avec mes parents – I spoke about that with my parents / I was speaking with my parents about that
Je voulais cette voiture – I wanted that car
Je voulais de nouvelles chaussures – I wanted new shoes
Je voulais des chaussures rouges – I wanted red shoes
Je voyais souvent mon neveu – I used to see my nephew often
J’étais chez elle le mois dernier – I was at her house last month
Les femmes faisaient des frites – The woman made some fries
Les hommes faisaient des gateaux – Men made cakes
Ma sœur disait que tu es trop vieuxpour elle – My sister said you are too old for her
Nous disions? We were saying?
Nous ne trouvions plus son chapeau – We did not find his hat anymore
Où allaient-ils? Where did they go?
Où étaient-ils samedi soir? Where were they Saturday night?
Tu avais seulement à dire non – You only had to say no
Tu ne connaissais pas ça – You did not know that
Tu ne me trouvais pas – You did not find me
Tu parlais avec ma sœur – You spoke with my sister
Tu regardais la television – You were watching television
Vendredi je parlais avec leprofesseur de mon fils – Friday I spoke with the professor of my son
Vous aviez à manger? Did you have something to eat?
Vous étiez dans votre cave – You were in your cellar
Vous ne faisiez rien – You did nothing
Vous pensiez la même chose quemoi – You thought the same thing as me
Vous veniez me voir – You came to see me
Vous veniez souvent dans cerestaurant – You came to this restaurant often